Blockchain Myths That May Be Holding You Back

Blockchain or distributed ledger technology is barely a decade old, yet it has already managed to disrupt and reshape traditional enterprise systems globally. It is the first time in the history of computing that data sharing and security features are  contemplated in the design phase itself and are not considered just as add-ons.

My co-founders and I were pioneers in blockchain, coding since the early days of Bitcoin. At DLT Labs, we now develop and execute distributed technology platforms to help businesses reach their goals with improved efficiency, transparency, security and cost-effectiveness. But even though we’ve seen blockchain transforming industries from banking to supply chain, there are two persistent – and contradictory – misconceptions I keep running into.

One is that blockchain isn’t ready for prime time. It may be fine for cryptocurrency, but it’s too slow or too complex to integrate into an enterprise’s production or legacy systems. The other is that blockchain is the one perfect solution to all of our business problems. It’s a solo technology that can do everything.

On the contrary, the truth is blockchain technology is very much ready to drive large-scale innovations. It can’t fix all of the world’s problems, but it is capable of solving critical data management and distribution challenges in a way that no other system can.

We at DLT Labs recently completed our largest project to date, a blockchain-based freight and payment network for Walmart Canada that allows the company to consolidate, share and secure data from multiple sources and generate real-time invoices. We realized throughout the course of this project that common blockchain myths are holding back other tech leaders and  charting our own course has helped us succeed. Here are some key principles our team put into practice for this project and other ongoing ones.

Examine All The Pieces

Blockchain is not just a single technology; it’s a combination of many different components. We often notice leaders from big companies express interest in hiring a blockchain developer or architect, but this approach doesn’t make sense. It’s not the same as finding a Java or C++ developer. To understand blockchain, you must have expertise in a number of areas, including programming, security, cryptography, servers and cloud systems. It’s impossible for one person to be responsible for all of these pieces. You need a team with diverse and complementary skills to successfully achieve the goal. In other words, if you are running a blockchain project with just a couple of developers then you are preparing your project to fail. This rule applies even if you are trying to implement a POC.

Differentiate Your Strengths

My partners and I realized early on that we had to divide and conquer. If we all tried to do everything at once, we’d never make progress, so we created distinct departments that work independently but collaboratively to build blockchain solutions.

Some companies choose to partner with various blockchain-based dev shops that don’t have any experience in building enterprise-level products. This actually does more harm than good to your organization. Most of the time, large enterprises already have the necessary skills in-house. Before seeking outside help to develop the product, you should see if you can solve your business problem by utilizing a blockchain-based platform and the strengths of your current team. Assemble a group of 10 to 15 tech leaders with experience in specialties such as hardware, QA, programming, security, cryptography, cloud, architect, BA and PM – just to name a few – and task them with configuring the blockchain platform to solve the business problem, rather than developing it from scratch.

Start With Data  

In the past five years, we have seen more and more companies showing interest in AI, machine learning and other emerging technologies. These front-end tools are exciting, but they are futile if your data isn’t organized. Data is everything, and you can’t move forward without giving it the attention it deserves. There’s no point in building a beautiful chatbot or mobile app if you’re still running data on outdated back-end systems.

Blockchain is essentially an arrangement of data, compiled in a way that it can be easily shared and distributed. Use blockchain to bring your data management up to the same level as your front-end systems.

Build With Blockchain 

It’s important to remember that blockchain is just one component in the bigger system you are building. Combine blockchain with other technologies to create a truly distributed product with as close to 100% uptime as possible. For example, our company recognized that blockchain alone couldn’t address authentication and authorization challenges, so we integrated another technology, OpenID Connect, to solve that problem. This fusion of different components enables you to build a robust and reliable distributed product.

Blockchain isn’t a silver bullet, but if used correctly, it does have the power to further innovate and advance targeted business goals.